Healing Politics: A Doctor's Journey into the Heart of Our Political Epidemic

I'm a little biased ;)

Abdul El-Sayid is an up and coming political force, having come close to winning in Michigan with the hard strike of his name and ethnicity. I wish him well, but found the book lacking.<br /><br />The first third of the book is the best- where he tells of his childhood and background as a Muslim Egyptian immigrant in America, especially after 9/11. He went to the Detroit department of Public Health and built it back up from a sad state, only to resign to go into politics.<br /><br />The second third is a depressing rehash of all of America's problems, most of which I was already aware of. Skip this part unless you want to feel really bad.<br /><br />I was hoping that the third part would have some good solutions for the second part, but all I got was the politics of empathy, which is hardly a thing these days. El-Sayid is a Progressive with a capital P, and his laundry list of Bernie Sanders type solutions like Medicare for all and the Green New Deal is extensive and hard to imagine anyone accomplishing. Maybe if I were younger and more idealistic I would have enjoyed the book more, but I've seen reasonable reforms crushed for stupid reasons and don't have a lot of faith in the American political system. <br /><br />I wish El-Sayid well and always admire men and women of science who speak out, but he is an idealist who will have to figure out a way to reform the system gradually- good luck with that.

I followed Abdul El-Sayed’s campaign to be Michigan’s governor and proudly cast my vote for him during that race. He is the type of smart, fresh, and committed leader we need in progressive politics. This book only affirmed my belief as such. Thoroughly researched and smartly written, he makes the case for progressive policies for America while also revealing his personal story as a Muslim American in our post-9/11 world. I can’t recommend this enough and I’m so excited to see where his political career takes him. <br /><br />I’d intended to attend the launch date of his book tour in March, but can’t wait to attend once rescheduled!

I was REALLY looking forward to being enlightened by this book, but was profoundly disappointed.<br /><br />The author took two very biased tones which were either:<br />1. Overwhelmingly self-appraising, to the point that all the stories that are supposedly centered on advocacy of underprivileged groups of individuals sound a lot more like “I deserve a Noble Peace Prize for all this work”<br /><br />I’m honestly a lot more curious about what the “poor, marginalized” characters featured throughout this book think about their guest appearance, and even the book as a whole, rather than what Sanders or Clinton think about the author, or direct quotes from the author’s Twitter DMs with Ocasio-Cortez. <br /><br />2. Trying TOO HARD to show allegiance to both sides of their “hyphenated” identities.<br /><br />Much of the book provides detailed examples of circumstances of which most people are already aware. I admittedly didn’t know how much EXACTLY the US allocated to its military budget, though it’s quite widely known that the amount is EMBARASSINGLY VAST compared to more humanistic purposes (e.g. healthcare and education). Now I know that that number was $649 + 44 billion by 2019, so thanks... I guess?<br /><br />Statistical reporting of proportions (of budgets, populations, etc.) are largely inconsistent. This especially bothered me when the comparisons are supposed to be parallel. For example, “20%” and “1 in 5” are mathematically the same number—while some readers would bother doing quick mental maths, some would glaze over “20%” and gasp “Holy crap” to “1 in 5”. <br /><br />Side note: My bar might be set too high on this,<br />having just finished the “The Story of More” by Hope Jahren—while we’re at it, you should really consider getting a copy. <br /><br />Overall, my reading experience during the first ~half of the book resembles that of reading one medical school admission essay after another (although realistically most 20ish-year-old pre-meds won’t have as extensive of a resume). I feel for you, admissions officers. <br /><br />Then, it switched gears almost completely to far-left political rambling, covering the same points in many different ways. <br /><br />Somewhere in the book, the author referred to social media-perpetuated confirmation bias. Ironically, this book is the embodiment of just that. It talks about moving away from “Us Against Them” language. But it uses that very language and narrative, though more implicitly.<br /><br />Needless to say, this book is VERY “BLUE” (in addition to the not-so-subtle choice of blue cover), while I had deeply wished it would highlight facts in a much more objective way, leaving out the author’s political biases... unless this book is part of his campaign—I wouldn’t be surprised. I guess I should’ve taken heed of the latter half of the books title before picking it up—I’ve been warned. <br /><br />I did enjoy the third (and unfortunately, shortest) part of the book, though it admittedly reads like a work of fiction. The facts on disease prevention and health insurance coverage was not new, but any proposition for HOW Medicare for All could succeed where it previously couldn’t is lacking, if not altogether absent. The facts about climate change needs to be a lot more thoroughly fact-checked using non-biased data (scientific rather than governmental/organizational). Any agreement put forward by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, including the Paris Agreement, is a great example of the adage “promises are meant to be broken”. The current technology for and most importantly the very nature of renewable energy makes it impossible, especially at our current rate of usage (and waste), to rely solely on renewable energy. Oh and yes, sprinkle that “Free College for All” on me like it’s fairy dust. <br /><br />Final remarks: The supposedly rhetorical “...how many dogs would you let die to save your kids?” dialogue personally enrages me—but I have my own biases.

This was a phenomenal book. Abdul's journey to running for governor of Michigan is a fascinating one and he tells the story in an engaging way. I left with a better understanding of who Abdul is and why he cares about the issues he advocates for.

Dr. El-Sayed skillfully threads his unique upbringing and life experiences with solid political analysis in this deeply personal memoir come political manifesto. He offers real hope to those of us who believe in a better America, one that looks after all of its citizens regardless of race or socio-economic status. <br /><br />A bit like the author himself who has achieved so much in such a short period of time, his book manages to explore everything that’s wrong with our current political trajectory and gets to the heart of the “insecurity” epidemic plaguing all aspects of our lives. <br /><br />We must all heed his passionate cri du coeur for an inclusive politics based on empathy and love.

The first part of Abdul El-Sayed’s book is his compelling life story — the son of Egyptian immigrants raised in Michigan and committed to medicine, public health, and political leadership. I thoroughly enjoyed that section and admire El-Sayed, but the rest of the book (his political philosophy and agenda) was dull and surprisingly uninspired.

The author took his unique background and created a guide for how we can move forward in these divisive political times. This was extremely well written and is a great resource for moving forward together.

This is the book I plan on referencing the next time I'm defending Medicare for All and other "socialist" policies to my conservative family members.

The author tells us that he was the first Muslin-American to make a serious run for a governor in any state. While he tells sometimes about the difficult to be Muslin running for office in a large state with multiple constituencies, he focuses briefly on how difficult it is to be a Muslim in politics. He did not win the nomination for governor in Michigan, a state that has the largest Muslin population in the US. <br /><br />His book is an analysis of how health and where we live (or get to live) are locked together. He works to help people as a doctor but he discovers that the best way to improve the lives of people is to use laws and politics to make full and sustainable lives for all persons. <br /><br />He moved to the US and earned not only a MD but also PhD. His goal was (is) to improving life on earth for all people. He sees the best way to make a change in the world is to use both degrees. <br /> <br />Why do people have bad food? b/c things like spinach, measured by cost per calorie, are cheaper by the calorie” (50-51) Money and a healthy life are connected. <br /><br />.He talks about “food insecurity.” If a person doesn’t’ know where his next meal is coming form, he’s likely to eat food that doesn’t support his or her body. He uses his academic achievements (a MD and a PhD) to make a plan to enable all people to be healthy because they east good food. <br /><br />At times the book is challenging read: “There is a shameful political history that strains our white coats: the fact the American Medical Association, the largest physician organization in the country, has been on the wrong side of every effort at real American health reform since World War 2. (69-70) <br /><br />At the same time, writes about news stories we’ve seen, including water disaster in Flint, Michigan. We get lots of details which come to light when you are reading about the lives of poor people. He gives a short message between the story and the theory. (91)<br /><br />The book was published before the current world wide epidemic. His analysis provides a useful to non-medical people. He says, “Health is the fundamental resource, without it, little else matters.” (148)<br /><br />The end of the book runs into the fields of politics and health which are not as interesting as the first 2/3 of the book. . It’s about his struggle to get the nomination for. <br /><br />He ends with 13 ideas to heal the word through medicine AND politics. <br />